Chopping-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. s. STEWART. CHOPPNG MACHINE.

No. 601,532. Patented Mar. 29,1898. I

- A TTOHNEYS.

(No Model.) Y V.2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. S. STEWART. VCHOPPING MACHINE.

Patented Mar. 29, 1898.

ATTORNEYS.

NITED STATES ALEXANDER S. STEWART, OF NECHE, NORTH DAKOTA.-4

`CHOPPlNGu-IVIACHINEl SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.601,532, dated March 29, 1898. Application filed July 12, 1897. l SerialNo. 644,225. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LAL'EXANDER STEWART STEWART, of Neche, in the county ofPembina and State of North Dakota, have invented a new and ImprovedChopping-Machine, of which the following is a full, clear', and eXactdescription.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine especially adaptedfor cutting meat fine for sausages and other purposes and to provide amechanism whereby the knives will have a rocking reciprocating movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a driving and guidingmechanism for chopping-knives of the rocker type, and also to provide ameans whereby the knives may be readily adjusted and whereby any desiredamount of pressure may be brought to bear upon the knives, and,furthermore, to conl struct a machine of the above character which willbe simple, durable, compact, and economic. y

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts inall the iigures. y

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the frame of the machine and the partscarried thereby,"

the chopping-receptacle and rocker-frame for the knives being invertical section. Fig.` 2 is a detail sectional view taken substantiallyon the line 2 2V of Fig. 5. Fig. 3 isa plan view of the machine. Fig. 4tis a vertical section through the central portion of the machine, takenat a right angle to the section shown in Fig. 1; and Fig is a verticalsection on the line 5 V5 of Fig. 3.

A base A is provided which is much wider at one end than at the other.Along the edges of the wider portion of the base nuts are secured, eachnut carrying a screw 11, having an upward direction, and the said screwsare passed through threaded apertures in the ends of the members 12 and13 of acrossframe B, each member of the cross-frame near its outer endbeing provided with a socket or a pocket 14, in which a frictionroller15 is journaled. The friction-rollers .edge of each frame near its ends.are adapted to carry chopping-knives 36, havl engage with the bottomof acircular platform 16, having peripheral beveled teeth 17. rllhisplatform carries a chopping-block 1S, preferably surrounded by a pan-like casing 19. At the narrower end of the base A two substantiallyA-shaped or inverted-U-shaped standards and 21 are secured, the standard21 being of less height than the standard 20, a'nd the two standards areconnected by crossbars 22 and 23, preferably circular in crosssection. Acompressinglever 24: is pivoted at one end at the top of the longerstandard 20, the pivotal ears 25 of the said lever being best shown inFig. 5. This compressing-lever is carried over the casing 19, extendingbeyond both the front and rear sides of the said casing, and the leveris provided at its free end with a weight 26 and an adjusting-screw 27near the weighted end.

At the outer or front edge of the front or wider portion of the base A abearing 28 is secured, as shown in Fig. 1, to which the lower end of anupright 29 is secured, the said upright having its upper end providedwith a vertical recess 30 to receive the free end of thecompressing-lever, the adjustingscrew 27 being adapted for engagementwith the bottom of this recess, as shown in Fig. 1, and by means of thisgroove the central portion of said lever may be made to approach more orless closely the chopping-block.

At or about the central portion of the lever a transverse socket 31 isformed in which a pin 32 is held to turn, the pin having attached toeachof its ends an arm 33. These arms are adapted to support two frames34, said frames being preferably of rectangular shape and of skeletonformation, as illustrated in Fig. 3. rlhe frames are spaced a distanceapart, and a recess 35 is made in each side The frames ing convexedcutting edges, the knivesbeing of the rocker type. Two screws 37 are at@tached to each knife, and the screws of each knife are passed upwardthrough a set of recesses in one side of a frame, the knives being adjustably attached to the frames by means of nuts 38, located on thescrews, one above and the other below the frames, as shown in Fig. 1.

Each arm 33, carried downward from the compressing-lever, terminates inan eye 39, adapted to loosely't into the spaces atfthe center of theframes, and a pivot-pin 40,is passed through the center of each frameand through the 'eyes of both illustrated 'in Fig. Two parallel guide*arms 4l are employed in connection with the frame, the guide-arms beingattached to or made integral with the upper faces of the frames 34 nearthe central portion of their inner edges. These guide-arms 4l extendupwardly and in direction of one end of the base A, being connected by apin 42, upon which one end of a link 43 is mounted.

The lower end of a lever 44 is pi voted to an offset 45, formed upon theforward edge of the larger standard 20. This lever, which may be termeda guide-lever, is shown curved in order that it may clear various of theoperating parts with which it would otherwise come in engagement. Thelink 43, attached to the arms 4l, is pivotally secured to the up'- perend of the guide-lever 44, and a second guide-link 46 is pivoted to thecentral portion which pivots said lever of the guide-lever and upon thepin 40 between the two frames 34, as shown in Figs. l and 4. One end ofa pitman 47 is pivoted on the said pin 40, also between the two frames34, which pitman is carried to a pivotal engagement with a wrist-pin 4S,secured upon -a crank-disk 49, the disk being mounted on a shaft 50,journaled in the two standards 20 and 2l and theupper cross-bar 22.

At the end of the shaft 50 opposite that at which the disk is attached abalance-wheel 5l iS secured, as is likewise a pinion 52. A drive-shaft53 is journaled in the two standards 2O and 2l and in the lowercross-bar 23 of said standards, as shown in Fig. 5, the shaft 53 beingprovided at one end with a gear 54, meshing with the pinion 52, and isfurther provided at the same end with a crank-handle 55. At the oppositeend of the drive-shaft 53 a beveled pinion 5G is secured, which pinionmeshes with a beveled gear 57, secured at the upper portion of aninclined shaft 58, which carries a beveled pinion 59, arranged forengagement with the teeth on the revolving platform 1G. The inclinedshaft is journaled in bearings 60, projected from a plate (il, the saidplate, as illustrated in Fig. l, being adjustably attached to an outerside face of the longer standard 20. l

A locking-pin 62 is usually pivoted on the compressing-lever by the samepivot-pin on the standard 20. The locking-pin extends farther below thanabove its pivot and at its .upper end terminates in an eye 62, the lowerend of the locking-pin entering the space between the two cross-bars 22and 23 of the standards 2O and 21. A transverse aperture 63 is made inthe pressing-lever near its pivot, the ,said aperture bein g adapted toreceive a pin 64. When the lever is elevated, as shown in dotted linesin Fig. l, the chopping-knives will be carried out of the casing 19 andmay be held in this of said arms 33, asy

position by passing the pin 64 through the eye of the locking-pin G2 andinto the aperture 63 of the lever, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

After the meat has been placed upon the chopping-block thechopping-knives are lowered a distance, the distance at which they shallapproach the chopping-block being regulated by the set-screw 27 in thepressing-lever, as illustrated in Fig. l. -The weight of thepressing-lever will hold said lever down and keep the knives to4 theirwork except when said knives encounter a bone or other hard substance,when the said knives may move upward to clear the same. The knife-frameis given its reciprocating movement through the medium of the pitman 47and the drivinggear connected therewith-while the rocking movement ofthe knives is controlled by the guide-links 43 and 46 and theguide-lever 44.

When the guide-lever isL in the position shown in Fig. l, the kniveswill have an inclination upward in direction of the front of themachine. Vhen the guide-lever is perpendicular, the knives will behorizontal, and when the guide-lever is given an inclination to thefront the knives will incline upwardly toward the rear.

In order that the meat shall not clog between the knives, I provide'whatI denominate a plow G5, which has one side curved to conform to thecurvature of the casing I9, the other or inner side being substantiallystraight, and the front of the plow is more 0r less pointed, the entirebody tapering in direction of the rear. This plow is adapted to travelover the chopping-block, along its outer edge and quite close to thecasing, and moves with the rocking table carrying the knives. Thismovement is brought about by attaching an arm 66 to the top of the plowand carrying the said arm upward and then inward over the centralportion of the pressing-lever, where it is pivoted by means of asuitable bolt 67. In the upright portion of the shank of the plow anopening 68 is made, (shown best in Fig. 1,) which receives an end G9 ofa bracket 70, preferably of angular construction and secured to one ofthe supporting-arms 33 for the rocking table.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. The combination, with a block, and a lever arrangedto extend across the block, of a frame pivotally supported from the saidlever, rocker-cutters carried by the said frame, and means for impartinga guided rocking movement to the frame and a lateral movement,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a block, a weighted lever extending across theblock, and pivoted arms carried by the lever, extending downwardlytherefrom, of frames pivotally supported by said arms, cutters carriedby said frames, a drive-shaft, a pitman operated from the drive-shaftand connected with the said frames, a guide-lever, and link connec- IOOIIO

tions between the guide-lever and said fram es, for the purpose setforth.

3. The combination, with a block, a weighted lever fulcrumed to extendacross the said block, arms pivotally supported by the weighted leverand extending downwardly therefrom, frames pivotally carried by saidarms, and rocker-cutters carried by the said frames, of a drive-shaft, acrank-disk driven from the drive-shaft, a pitman connection between thecrank-disk and the frames, a

guide-lever, guide-links pivoted to said lever,

one of the said links being connected directly with the frames, and armsprojected from the frames, pivotally attached to the other of the saidguide-links, for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with a block, aweighted lever pivoted at one of itsends upon an adjacent support, the said weighted lever being arranged toextend over the said block, a frame pivotally supported by the saidweighted lever, and rocker-cutters carried by the said frame, of a plowarranged to receive movement from the pivotal support for the saidframe, va drive-shaft, a crank-and-pitman connection between thedrive-shaft and the said frame, a guide-lever, parallel links pivoted tothe upper and central portions of said guide-lever, the lowermost linkbeing connected directly with the pivot of the frame, and arms projectedfrom the frame, pivotally connected with` the uppermost link, allarranged for operation as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, with a rotating block, a drive-shaft, a crank-diskoperated from the drive-shaft, and a driven shaft also operated adrive-shaft, a crank-disk operated from the drive-shaft, and a drivenshaft also operated from the drive-shaft and geared to revolve the saidblock, of a support adjacent tothe block, a weighted lever fulcrumedupon the said support, adapted to extend over the block, arms pivoted tothe weighted lever and extending downwardly therefrom, frames pivoted tosaid arms, cutters carried by the said frames, a pitman connecting theframes with the said crank-disk, a guide-lever, and links connecting thesaid guide-lever with the said frames, the said links being one abovethe other, an upright provided with a socket to receive the free end ofthe Weighted lever, an adjusting device for the free end of the weightedlever, and means for adjusting the cutters on the said frames, as andfor the purpose specified.

ALEXANDER s. STEWART.-

Witnesses: I

N. G. YOUNG, RICHARD GYNN.

